What skills do you need as a franchisor?

You’ve been considering owning a franchise for a while now. But you’re not sure of the specific skills you need for the position. Besides the on-the-job training provided by the franchisor, what are some of the softer skills that can make your franchise fab or
flop?

You need to be a self-starter

This almost goes without saying, but in order to run a successful franchise, you need to be a self-starter. There isn’t going to be a boss or supervisor telling you what to do, how much time you have to do it in and what the consequences are if you don’t. Strong abilities in self-motivation are key in this area of business if you hope to be successful.

You need to see a problem before it starts

Many problems with franchises come down to bottlenecks. In other words, a problem was forming all along, but no one bothered dealing with it until it hit crisis levels. As a franchisor, you need to recognize and take care of problems early before they become catastrophes.

You need to be a people person

All franchises deal with customers in some way, whether it’s in person or over the phone. As the franchise owner, you’re going to be the last port-of-call that customer comes to when they have a problem. By then, they may already be hopping mad, frustrated or downright irate. You need the communication skills to be able to smooth things over and calm the customer down – as well as retain their business in the future.